Newmarket solution starts with voting yes

Tuesday

Mar 4, 2014 at 2:00 AM

To the Editor:

To the Editor:

Whether you plan to vote yes or no on the new school, you should know that both are incomplete. If you vote no, there needs to be another solution to the facilities problem. If you vote yes, there needs to be a solution to the affordability problem. It's true that times will get even tougher for some people if we vote yes. These people are our neighbors with homes and businesses.

The problem is, voting no will not save them. Taxes would continue to rise from excessive costs to keep the old facility going. We would pay for portables or some other expensive short-term fix to deal with increased projected enrollments. We know there is no nearby town left willing to make a tuition agreement, but if one changed their mind, it would be a terrible deal since we would have zero leverage. Voting no leads to higher taxes, but more importantly, continued uncertainty.

The solution starts with a yes vote to build the new school. We know the maximum it can cost. This amount includes a contingency to cover unexpected issues. The land has been tested to minimize the chance of such issues. I hope interest rates stay low and competition brings the cost down, but even if we hit the worst case scenario, the most important thing we gain is a stationary target.

The first step after a yes vote is to start raising funds to offset as much of the tax increase as possible, for as many people as possible. Our best bet is to fight for retroactive state aid. There is no guarantee we will achieve this, but thankfully the groundwork is already being laid by Rep. Cahill. Even if there is no state school construction aid, there are sources of federal, state, and private aid for other costs included in the tax rate. We will not be able to raise funds to offset the whole increase but we don't have to: most can afford it.

The next step is to keep as much Newmarket money in Newmarket as possible. This means a specific commitment to Newmarket businesses, restaurants, employees, and service providers. Even if you don't have a lot of money, you spend money every day. Spending in town creates a multiplier effect that greatly benefits our local economy. If we create a larger movement to invest in Newmarket, we can grow local businesses and create jobs. These steps will make the tax increase more manageable.

Research shows we should expect a property value increase from the new school. The total tax at the worst case estimate of $4.26/1000 on a $200,000 home over 25 years is around $21,000, while the property value increase identified by the research would be $28,000. This increased equity could be used to cover a portion of property tax payments, or other expenses made more difficult because of those payments. You may have heard that this kind of property value increase will raise your taxes but that's incorrect. Since the town total assessed value goes up, not just your property, you can expect to pay about the same.

The effect of the tax increase will be less over time because inflation is on our side. In 1990 the median household income in Newmarket was about $32,000, but recently it was estimated to be over $60,000. It will be much easier to raise funds the last year of a bond compared to the first year. In contrast, a tuition agreement would increase at roughly the pace of inflation. 25 years later we would be paying that much more and still have no school to show for it.

We have some control over other future tax increases for capital improvements. The elementary school needs work but it can be done in phases. It does not have the same significant safety and operational issues as the high school. Other needs like water treatment may be eligible for aid, or may have regional/cooperative options that we can explore. We have demanded that all options be explored for the high school, and we should continue to do that going forward for other projects.

If we come together March 11 to pass the school, and carry the momentum forward to start taking these steps, we will see a positive result. We all will have to dig deep to help folks out — especially in the first few years — but it will get easier. Our only path forward is to vote yes.

Jeff Raab

Newmarket

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